Throughout my life I have studied the socio-economic history of the Ancient World, and in recent years its social psychology as well. At last I arrived at a concept of how the historical process worked – at least in the period from Palaeolithic times to the end of Antiquity. It seemed to me that during this period the process consisted not of two phases as is assumed in Marxist historiography but of four regular stages of world-wide valence. The probable mechanism of change also seemed clear.

Then I asked myself whether this concept of the mechanism responsible for phase change could be applied to the later history of mankind. Although not an expert in the history of Middle Ages and the modern period, I tried nevertheless to trace an outline of the historical process during these phases, drawing on the work of a variety of authors. It appeared to me that the historical process after Antiquity could be subdivided into four more phases, each with its own mechanism of emergence and function …. The result was a short overview of the whole history of mankind, and of the laws governing it – not only economic and socio-economic laws but also socio-psychological ones.

For this overview of world history (perhaps too hastily conceived by me) I am solely responsible. A detailed account of my views as regards the first four phases can be found in my earlier published, less ambitious, work on more specific subjects. As regards the later phases, I have omitted all references in order not to make any of my colleagues answerable for my own, possibly faulty, conclusions.